Device for operating series of pumps



(No Model.)

M. W. QUICK. DEVICE POR OPERATING SERIES 0F PUMPS.

N40. 595,205. Patented D50. 7, 1897.

F I G 2 Umts@ Sintes `n'rnNr Fricke,

DEVICE FOR OPERATING SERIES OF PUMPS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 595,205, dated December7, 1897. Application filed August 19, 1895. Serial No. 559,795. (Nomodelli To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MILES W. QUICK, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Titusville, in the county of Crawford and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Device for Operating aSeries of Pumps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates more particularly to the operation of deep-wellpumps, and generally applied where two or more of those pumps aresituated in proximity to each other and where for reasons of economy itis designed to furnish the power for operating the pumps from a centralstation; but it maybe used to operate a single pump. It is peculiarlyapplicable to the pumps at wells producing petroleum or carbon oils, butmay also be applied to other purposes.

It is well known that oil-wells are deep borings, generally from fivehundred to twentyfive hundred feet in depth, and that in the operationof pumping tubing is placed in the well, reaching from the surface tothe bottom, with what is called a working barrel, which is the pumpproper, at or near the lower end, and with pump or, as they are called,sucker rods inside the tubing from the surface and connecting with thevalve-stem in the working barrel.

It has heretofore been customary to connect each well with a centralpower and so arrange the connecting machinery that the operationalternates at the differentv wells. So far as I am aware, this hasheretofore been done by placing somewhere near the center of the clusterof wells a power plant, consisting of an engine driving a crank-shafthaving one or more cranks or eccentrics,with rods leading off from thosecranks to the different wells, the connection being so arranged that thewells balance each other. In practice some of the wells so operated arelocated four thousand feet or more from the central power. This methodof operating the well-pumps has shown a great saving of power over theold way of having an engine at each well, but is open to severalobjections: First, to secure good results the central power must beplaced near the center of the field irrespective of the convenience ofaccess; second, the rods must be supported above the surface of theground,

thus interfering with the cultivation or other use of the fields overwhich the connectingrods pass; third, the rods being above the surfaceare exposed to all the variations of temperature and to storms, whichcause them to vary in length, either contracting so as to break orexpanding so that the stroke is materially reduced or entirely lost atthe distant wells; also, being above the surface and exposed they arevery liable to injury from storms and their effects, as falling trees orsimilar accidents; fourth, all the wells in the cluster must move withthe same rapidity of motion, although the length of the stroke may besomewhat varied in the crank at the well; fifth, in a long line of rodsthe time required to overcome the inertia of the rods twice in eachstroke is too much to allow of a quick motion, which is necessary insome wells to exhaust the iluid, and, sixth, in the operation `of thenecessary engines, band-wheels, crankshafts, pull-wheels, rbc., alargepercentage of the power is lost in friction before it reaches the well.

The object of the present invention is to provide for the independentoperation of the pumps at each-well, thereby rendering it possible toadjust the stroke and speed of the pump at each well in accordance withthe requirements as to efficient pumping Vat such well.

In general terms, the invention consists of a` central duid-compressingplant connected by pipes to a fluid-pressure cylinder at each well, thepiston of such cylinder being connected directly or indirectly to thepump-rod. By the compressor any fluid, either inelastic, as water, oil,benzin, &c., or elastic, as air or gas, is driven through the pipes anddelivered under pressure to the cylinder at each well.

In order to utilize the power developed by the descending pump-rods,which weigh approximately ninety pounds per hundred feet, a similarsystem of pipes receives the Huid from the cylinder after it has doneits work and delivers it to the central compressor under a lesspressure, the result being that the weight of the rods at the wellsforces the fluid into the return-pipes under a pressure less thanworking,but above normal pressure, and it is returned with such pressureto the IOO central pump, 'which is thus relieved of a portion of thework otherwise required to maintain the necessary working pressure inthe outgoing pipes. The fluid in the pipes is thus kept in continuouscirculation, the weight of the descending rods being utilized in forcingit back under pressure to the central pump or compressor. In this waythe objections mentioned above to the mechanism now in use are overcome:First, the central pump or compressor may be located at any convenientpoint near to or distant from the Wells, Where it is accessible forfuel, water, &c.; second, the pipes may, and preferably should, beburied below the surface, leaving the ground free for cultivation;third, being thus buried they are not exposed to the elements and tovariations in temperature 5 fourth, the rate of motion at each well canbe regulated at pleasure by a proper valve mechanism at thewell-cylinder, as would be the case if steam were conveyed from acentral boiler to an engine at the well, and the length of stroke canalso be regulated by the valve at the wellengine; fifth, distant pumpscan be operated as rapidly as if immediately adjacent to the centralpower by the use of an air-chamber at the well.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the manner of distributingfluid under pressure to a series of widely-separated wells. Fig. 2 is asectional elevation showing the construction of apparatus employed ateach well for operating the pumps.

In the practice of my invention a fluid-compressing apparatus A isarranged at any suitable point, but preferably ata point approximatelycentral t'o thc wells to be pumped. A line of pipe 1, with branches 2,extends from the compressor to the several wells, where the branches 2are connected to the valve-chambers 3 of the cylinders 4. Thevalve-chambers 3 are also connected by branch pipes 5 and line-pipe Gwith the inlet-ports of the compressor.

The cylinder at each of the wells is. provided with a piston 7,connected in any suitable manner to the pump-rod 8-as, for eX- ample, bymeans of a lever 9, as shown in Fig. 2. A valve 10 in the chamber 3 isprovided with a stem having` an arm or lever 11 secured thereto in suchmanner as to be adapted to be moved to shift the Valve by -stops 12 and13 on the rod 14, which is secured to arm 15, attached to or operated bythe piston. In order to effect a quick movement of the valve as thepiston reaches the limits of its movement, an arm 16 is secured on thestem of the valve 10 in such manner that its end will bear against aspring 17', so

In operating my improved plant the pipes forming the supply orhigh-pressure line are charged by the compressor with fluid under asufficient pressure to operate the pistons at each well. This pressure,which will depend upon the weight of the pump-rods and of the column offluid to be raised, may be considered, for the purposes of explanation,to b e about one hundred pounds per square inch. The opening of thevalve 10 when the piston is at the lower limits of its movement willpermit the fluid-pressure to flow into the cylinder and raise the pistonand pump rods.

As the piston reaches the lupper limit of its movement the valve isshifted, cuttingoff the supply of fluid-pressure and opening the portcommunicating with the low-pressure line of pipe, into which the fluidin the cylinder is forced by the weight of the pump-rods, &c.

The low-pressure pipes are made of such a size compared with thecapacity of the compressor and the number of cylinders connected to suchlines that a pressure will be maintained therein by the descendingpump-rods, but sufficiently lower than the pressure in the high-pressureline as not to interfere with or materially retard the descent of thepumprods-asn for example one, when the working pressure in thesupply-lines is about one hundred pounds per square inch a pressure offorty pounds, more or less,dependent upon the depth of the Well, can bemaintained by the descending pump-rods, &c., in .the low-pressure lines,so that the compressor is relieved of a considerable amount of workrepresented by the pressure at which the fluid is delivered to thecompressor. In other words, the low-pressure line acts as a reservoir orsupply of duid-pressure for compressor, and this reservoir is suppliedby the power generated by the descending pump-rods.

Changes in many respects in the form or construction of parts of theapparatus may be made without departure from the invention as specifiedin iheclaims.

I claim herein as my invention- 1. Ina plant for operatingpumps, dac.,the combination of a Huid-compresso@acylinder, pipes connecting thecylinder to the discharge and inlet ports of the compressor, valvemechanism controlling the flow of fluid-pressure to and from thecylinder, and a pump-rod or other load connected to the piston. of thecylinder and adapted to be raised by Huid-pressure and in its descent todeliver the fluid to the compressor at a pressure higher thanatmospheric pressure, substantially as setforth.

2. In a plant for operating pumps, &c.,the combination of afluid-compressor, a singleacting cylinder, pipes connecting the closedend of the cylinder with the discharge and inlet ports of thecompressor, valve mechanism controlling the flow of duid-pressure toand.v from the cylinder and a pump-rod or other load connected to thepiston of the cylinder, whereby the pump-rod or other load may be raisedby fluid-pressure in the cylinder and- IOO IIO

pump-rods connected to the pistons of the cylinders and adapted to beraised by fluidpressure in the cylinders and in their descent to deliverthe Huid to the compressor at a pressure higher than atmosphericpressure, substantially as set forth. v

MILES W. QUICK.

l/Vitnesses: y

DAVID WEED, J os. T. CHAsE.

nii.

